Promote indigenous products - NCCI

09 Jul 2013 09:00

GOBABIS, 09 JUL (NAMPA) - The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) branch here has urged businesspeople in the Omaheke Region to venture into the marketing of indigenous products in a bid to reap the best results from what the region has to offer.
Such products include traditional butter (omaze wo zongombe), animal hide carpets and traditional herbal remedies such as the popular Devil?s Claw found largely in the Omaheke Region.
The NCCI?s Gobabis Vice-Chairperson Moses Mberira told Nampa on Tuesday that local businesspeople can reap better rewards if they focus on products often used in various cultures in the region, as such products represent the region better.
Mberira said most of these products are still in popular demand nationally, and with correct marketing and promotion, could do well beyond Namibian borders.
?Our parents, especially in the Omaheke Region and a few other regions, used these products on a daily basis. Today, products such as animal hide carpets are used in traditional ceremonies. I believe there is a market for such products if we market them properly,? he enthused.
Mberira said it was also high time that the Omaheke Region weaned itself of the dependency on livestock farming as the main economic driver by venturing into sub-industries of livestock farming.
?Livestock farming offers more than the basic buying and selling of livestock. A cow can be used for many purposes - from its horns to its hooves.
We need to explore all these possibilities, as there is an urgent need to diversify our region?s economy. The days when we would sorely depend on cattle for livelihood are long gone,? he noted.
Citing the popular and costly Persian carpets from Iran as an example, he added that there was no reason why indigenous Namibian products, with their origins firmly rooted in the country, should not earn the same accolades.
Mberira thus pledged the NCCI?s support in setting up such enterprises through its mentoring programmes.
The Omaheke Regional Council has prioritised economic diversification in the quest to drive the region towards achieving some of the primary objectives of Vision 2030.
(NAMPA)
CT/ND/TK